Sixers-Nuggets 5 Things: Looking to Solve Fourth Quarter Woes

Sixers (7-24) at Nuggets (18-14)
9 p.m. on TCN/CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports app; Pregame Live at 8:30

The Sixers close out their holiday road trip against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on Friday night. 

Let's take a closer look at the matchup:

1. Failure to finish
It's awfully hard to nail down a road win in the NBA, especially when you can't score or prevent your opponent from scoring.

The Sixers' fourth-quarter woes showed up yet again on this road trip Thursday night. This time the Sixers were carved up by the Utah Jazz as they were outscored 30-9 in the final period of a 100-83 loss.

It was just the latest example of the team's inability to finish, particularly on this West Coast swing. The Sixers, who rank 29th in fourth-quarter scoring, have entered the final frame with a lead before being outscored in every game during this road trip: 42-31 in Phoenix, 32-23 in Sacramento and 30-9 in Utah.

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Now they return to the scene of one of their more memorable fourth-quarter heartbreaks in recent history. The Sixers actually outscored the Nuggets 30-29 during the final period of their last visit to Denver on March 23 a season ago, but they watched Emmanuel Mudiay knock down a contested shot from nearly half court at the buzzer in a 104-103 loss.

2. Back to the juggling act 
Perhaps Joel Embiid can help the Sixers finish off a fourth quarter to salvage a win on this road trip. The rookie big man is expected to return to lineup after sitting out the first leg of the back-to-back set for rest.

Exactly who will be paired with Embiid down low for the bulk of his minutes is a different story. 

The Sixers wanted to stick with the Embiid-Jahlil Okafor pairing through the calendar year. However, the duo hasn't yielded much success and Okafor appeared hampered against the Jazz after tweaking a hamstring following his 13-point second quarter.

Nerlens Noel is still working his way back into game shape after missing most of the season because of knee surgery. Still, he was impressive in Utah with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting and six rebounds in a season-high 22 minutes.

"I'm not sure. We'll figure that out," head coach Brett Brown said of a potential pairing on Friday. "I feel like when you study the numbers, look at the gut feel, it has not been at the moment successful. I want to make sure we do the right thing by the team, put the team in the best situation where we can win our last game on a holiday road trip. We'll make that decision more as we study it."

3. One man for the job
One thing Brown won't have to worry about figuring out is who will play point guard because he only has one option.

T.J. McConnell will start at PG for the Sixers after Sergio Rodriguez suffered a sprained left ankle in Thursday's loss. With Jerryd Bayless out for the season after wrist surgery and future point-forward Ben Simmons still rehabbing his injured foot, McConnell is the last man standing.

"I'm going to do pretty much everything I've tried to do the whole year -- run the team, shoot when I'm open, try to play solid defense," McConnell said  (see story).

That worked out well for McConnell the last time he was forced into the starting lineup when he posted a near-triple-double in the Sixers' 97-79 win over the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 11. 

The second-year point guard has also experienced success in Denver. He posted 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting along with five assists and three rebounds during that one-point road loss to the Nuggets last season.

4. Injuries
Rodriguez (ankle), Richaun Holmes (concussion), Gerald Henderson (hip) and Ben Simmons (knee) are out for the Sixers. 

The Nuggets have no players listed on the injury report.

5. This and that
• The Sixers are looking to avoid being swept by the Nuggets for the second straight season.

• The shorthanded Sixers might want to slow down the pace in the Denver altitude after being outscored 21-7 in fastbreak points by the Nuggets in their loss during the season's first meeting on Dec. 5.

• Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has five double-doubles and is shooting 67.0 percent in 11 games since he returned from a wrist injury.

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